Refillable fuse plug



E. H. BAXTER.

REFILLABLE FUSE PLUG.

APPucATmN FILED ocT.27.1919.

1,40'7,1 17, Patented Feb. 21, 1922.

UNITED STATES ERNEST H. BAI'ER, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

REIL'LBLE FUSE PLUG.

Patented Feb. 21, 1922.

Application tiled October 7, 1911. Serial No. 333,749.

To all whom t may concer/n.:

Be it known that I, EiaNns'r Il. Baaren, a citizen of the United States,residing Chicago, in the county oi Cool; and State o1c Illinois, haveinvented a certain n w and useful Improvement in Refillable lluse Plugs,of which the following is a iull, clear, concise, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecication.

My invention relates to fuse plugs and more particularly to a fuse plugin which the fuse element may be renewed aiter being burned out.

In most of the lighting circuits in use at the present day and in manyot the smaller electric circuits fuse plugs are used which have thegeneral form of the screw plug on the ordinary electric lamp bulb. Theseplugs are screwed into a socket having electrical connections like thoseof an ordinary lamp socket. The fuse contained within the plug Visadapted to conduct a certain amount or' current without melting. It thecurrent eX- ceeds the amount for which the fuse is intended the fuseburns out and a new plug must be inserted. The fuse itseli2 terms only asmall portion of the fuse plug but the entire plug must,v at the presenttime, be thrown away because the plug is not so constructed that anamateur or a person unskilled in the electrical art can reinser't a newfuse. T irowing away the entire plugwhen only the tuse is destroyedentails a greatloss. It is an object of this invention to avoid thisloss by providing a fuse plug having means whereby a new fuse may beinserted by any person notslrilled in the artr and without the use oitany but ordinary implements. It is a furn ther object of the inventionto provide a fuse plug of the character set i'orth which is inexpensiveto manufacture, servicable in use and is lire-proof as is necessary inplugs of this kind.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a. 'fuse plug inwhich the usual glass or isinglass cover plate may be removed so thataccess may be had to the interior ci the plug for re-inserting a newfuse.

With these and other objects in view which will be apparent from thedetailed description which follows I have disclosed in the drawings two'forms which my invention may talre, which forms are the best known tome at the present time. However, it is to be understood that by thisspecification and tnei accompanying drawings I do not intend to i.nnitmyself to the speciiic construction disclosed but intend to avail myselfof any modifications which fall within the claims appended to thisspeciiication.

In the drawings the same reference characters have been used todesignate the same artsthroughout the several views. In these drawings-F ig. l is a central section taken on line of F ig. 3 through thepreferred from ci my improved fuse plug;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a slightly modified meansfor attaching the tree end of the fuse;

JFig. 3 is an end view oi the plug` viewing iroin the contact end; t' lFig. 4t is a perspective view ot the 'tuse holding element;

lFig. 5 is a perspective view ciE the renewable fuse.

In the drawings the reference character i0 designates the porcelain bodyportion oit the plug. rllhe body is provided with exterior threads il,the purpose or which will be set forth later. The body is enlarged abovethe threads ll as shown at l2 in Fig. l and this enlarged portion hasexterior lthreads L3 which are adapted to be engaged by athreaded covermember lei. This cover member has a circular opening l5 in its top andis adapted to hold a piece of glass or isinglass 16 against the end ofthe body in order to close this end of the body. ri`he body lO has ahollow interior as shown in Fig. l and when it is desired to gain accessto the interior of the bod is only necessary to unscrew the cover inrnber lft and remove it together with the gla i6.

The other end ci the body l0 is provided with the circular opening 17which is adapted to receive a collar 18 having a threaded interior. Thecollar i8 is conveniently held in place in the body l0 by having its'ends bent outwardly around the body member a shown in Fig. l ot thedrawings.

One side of the body member is provided with an opening 19 andpositioned within this opening is the clamping portion ot a Jruseholding element 20. The lower portion l oi' .the use holding element isshaped or corrugated as shown in Figs l and 4 so that it may fit overthe threads ll of the body member l0. rhe upper portion of the fuseholding element which I termed the clamping portieri and which isdesignated by the numeral 22 is bent substantially into the shape of a Wand has a holding portion 22a as will be clear from Fig. 4 ot thedrawings. The free end ot the fuse holding element pro] ects laterallyand forms a linger piece 23 which is positioned adjacent the enlargedportion 12 of the body 10 as will be clear from Fig. 1.

Encircling the body member l() is a threaded ring-like member 24 whichengages the threads 11 on the body member 10 and whose exterior threadsare adapted to engage'the threads of the soc-ret in which the plug isused. The parts are assembled by first positioning the clamping portion22 in the opening 19 andthe portion 21 over the threads 11 ot the bodymember. The member 24 is then screwed onto the body member until theshoulder 25 formed thereon engages the shoulder 26 formed on the bodymember 10. The member 24 vfits the body 10 with a tight fit so thatadditional holding means are not necessary in order to retain the partsin the desired relation.

The parts above described constitute the permanent portion of myimproved plug. It is intended that the purchaser shall be compelled tobuy the plug portions described above, only once and, thereafter whenthe plug burns out a new -fuse will be inserted which fuse will now bedescribed.

The fuse comprises a screw-like member 2.7 which is provided with aslotted head 28 upon which may be impressed the numeral designating theamount of' current for which the fuse is adapted. The screw 27 is splitas shown at 29 and is adapted to receive between the prongs so `formedone end of the fuse 30. The end which I designate 31 is made slightlywider than the fuse 30 so that it may be more readily secured within theslot 29. This securing may be effected by making the slot 29 slightlynarrower than the thickness of the end 3,1 and forcing the end 31 intothe slot or the ends of the screw 27 may be bent into firm contact withthe end 31 after it is inserted in the slot.

The other end 32 of the fuse is also enlarged and is adapted to be heldby the clamping portion 22 ot the fuse holding element. By pressing downon the finger piece 23 by means of the finger or any suitable instrumentthe ends 33 of the clamping portion are spread apart so that the fusemay be inserted between them. lVhen the finger is released the ends 33will spring toward each other and firmly hold the end ot the fusebetween them.

In Fig. 2 I have shown a slightly modified means for holding the end ofthe fuse in position. The body member 10a is. provided with exteriorthreads 11a which are engaged by the threaded ring-like member 24 as inthe previous modification. The holding element 20a has its upper endbent inwardly through an opening provided in the body member 10a andthis bent over portion 35 is provided with a threaded opening as shownin Fig. 2. Above the portion 35 is a clamping plate 36 having a suitableopening which is adapted to receive a screw 37 which engages thethreaded opening in the portion 35. After the end 32 of a fuse has beeninserted between the clamping member 36 and the portion 35 the screw 37is tightened and this serves to securely hold the end of the fuse inposition. The cover 14 and the glass 16 are the same as for themodification first described.

lVhile I have described the body members 10 and 1()a as made ofporcelain I do not intend to limit myself to the use of' this specificmaterial but intend to avail myselii of all materials having therequired insulating properties. The cover 14, the ring-like member 24and the collar 18 are preferably made of the usual brass material butother materials may be used. The fuse holding elements 2O and 2O1 arepreferably made of zinc but any conducting material which resilientenough to afford the clamping action of the ends 23 may be used instead.A lso while I have shown the fuse 30 formed with a narrower bodyport-ion and cnlarged ends, this construction is merely a convenient oneand is not the only one which may be used with the plug described. Theinvention does not reside in any selection of materials but consists ofa fuse plugwherein the tuse may be readily renewed by persons notskilled in the electrical art.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure b v United States Letters Patent is:

1. A fuse plug of the character set forth comprising a body member, aremovable cover therefor, a fuse holding element carried by the bodymember and detachably clamped to the side thereof, and a fuse adapted tobe freely inserted into said holding element.

2. fuse plucf of the character set -forth, comprising a bo y memberhaving an opening in one end thereof and a second opening in the sidewall thereof, a readily removable 'fuse secured in said end opening, andclamp-- ing means in the opening in the side wall of said body memberfor detachably securing the other end of said fuse in said opening.

3. A renewable fuse plug comprising a body member, a removable covertherefor, an opening in one end of the body member, a fuse detachablyheld in said opening, and a fuse holding element carried by andprojectlng through an opening in said member and adapted to detachablyhold one end of said fuse in said latter opening.

4. A fuse plug of the character described comprising a body memberhaving an opening therethrough, a fuse holding element for readilydetachably holding a tuse having a clamping portion projecting throughsaid opening, an opening in the end of said body member and a. fusedetachably held in said end opening and having its free end detachn ablysecured to said holding element.

5. A renewable fuse plug of the character i described comprising a bodymember having an eXteriorly threaded portion and an open` ing in one ofits sides, a fuse holding elcment projecting through said opening andover-lying the threads on said body member, and a ring-like memberhaving Jthreads adapted to engage the threads of said body member toclamp said fuse holding element against the body member.

6. A renewable fuse plug comprising a body member having an exteriorlythreaded portion and an opening in one of its sides, a fuse holdingelement for readily detachably holding a fuse projecting through saidopening and overlying the threads on said body member, athreaded'ringlike member engaging the threads of said body member andclamping said fuse holding element against the body member, a threadedcollar secured in one end of said body member, and a fuse membercarrying a screw portion adapted to engage said threaded collar, saidfuse member having its free end detachably secured to said fuse holdingelement.

7. A fuse holding element for a renewable fuse plug of the character setforth comprising acorrugated portion and a clamping portion, saidclamping portion being pro.- vided with a finger piece and clampingends, the parts being so constructed that when said finger piece ismoved said ends will be separated to receive a fuse between them.

8. A renewable fuse plug comprising a body member having an opening inone of its ends, a ring of conducting material surrounding said bodymember, a fuse holding element electrically connected to said ring andhaving a clamping portion projecting through an opening in said bodymember, and a fuse adapted to be detachably secured in said first namedopening and to have its free end detacha-bly secured to said holdingelement.

9. A fuse plug of the character set forth, comprising a body memberhaving an opening in one end thereof and a second opening in the sidewall thereof, a readily removable fuse having a screw threaded member onone end thereof adapted to be Ysecured in said end opening, and clampingmeans for detachably securing the other end of said fuse in the openingin the side wall of said body member.

10. A fuse plug of the character set forth, comprising a body memberhaving an open ing in one end thereof and a second opening in the sidewall thereof, a readily removable fuse having a screw threaded member onone end thereof adapted to be secured in said end opening, and clampingmeans for detachably securing the other end of said fuse in the openingin the side wall of said body member, said clamping means having anangular portion about which said fuse may be bent.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 23rd day ofOctober, A. D. 1919.

ERNEST H. BAXTER.

